IRAQ: Tent city for Western contractors

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A recent trip to the U.S. military base Camp Liberty located in the Baghdad airport compound introduced me to the community of contractors working in Iraq.

Beds were lined up 30 to 40 in a row. There was wireless Internet. People generally lived there one to two years at a time, working for different Western companies. They offered to show me around the camp and take me to the base’s shopping mall.

I only stayed a few days, but everyone wanted to make me feel at home. There were even a half-dozen Iraqi women now living in the camp looking for new jobs. They had turned a tent into their home and were weighing their options in choosing their next employer.

— Ned Parker in Baghdad